Why Entrepreneurs Are Vulnerable to Mental Health Challenges And How to Overcome Them – Thrive Global

Everyone knows building a company is difficult but how many really realize how brutal the process actually is? 583 million people which is 8% of the worlds population are now devoting their lives to entrepreneurship. An alarming 72% of these entrepreneurs are affected by a mental health condition! Naturally, deteriorating mental health and the failure to cope with it often becomes the reason several business owners give up on their ideas and hard work, and opt-out of the industry owing to the inability to deal with business failure.

While mental health is a concern for people from allspheres, why is it that entrepreneurs, as a group, seem to particularly be atrisk for developing mental health conditions?

The Price of Creativity

There is no denying that entrepreneurs are thought leaders creative and persistent individuals who want to think outside the box to come up with innovative, profitable solutions. Creativity is often considered a double-edged sword; many creative people throughout history have been seen as different people with inventive and fearless minds. More recently, research has shown that these geniuses face a dark side more than the average person. Researchers from the University of California found that nearly half of the surveys entrepreneurs were dealing with at least one mental illness, and about one-third of all entrepreneurs surveys were struggling with two or more mental illnesses including depression, anxiety, bipolar disorder, ADHD, and addiction.

Psychiatrist Michael Freeman from UCSF also highlighted thatwhen compared to the average American adult, entrepreneurs are two times morelikely to suffer from depression, three times more likely to suffer fromsubstance abuse, six times more likely to suffer from ADHD, and ten times morelikely to suffer from bipolar disorder.

5 Reasons Entrepreneurs Are at Risk

Despite its glamorization, entrepreneurship comes withmental health risks. Today, research has shown that there are a number ofreasons, involving the lifestyle and work of entrepreneurs, that this is true.

1. Stress andSelf-Care

The entrepreneurial life tends to be very stressful. Sinceentrepreneurs do not have working hours and have to make sure they dont slackbecause of that, they often follow the never not working mentality.Entrepreneurship coaches often also depict the successful lifestyle as havingto let go of fun and recreation. It is not uncommon for a new business ownerlike this to be sleep-deprived and overworked, with very little focus onself-care. Naturally, this can accumulate into serious mental health issuesover the long run.

2. Constant State ofUncertainty

Even when people hate their regular jobs, there is onereason they stick to their nine-to-five schedule: certainty. And this isexactly what is missing in the entrepreneurs lifestyle. Running your ownbusiness and making your own work schedule comes with a lot of uncertainty.Regardless of the stage you are at and how successful, you are, there is alwaysa possibility of failing and having to start from square one. Entrepreneurs aretherefore more prone to anxiety, which can turn into an anxiety disorder overtime.

3. Confused SelfIdentity

A common problem entrepreneurs often face is having difficulty separating their own identity from their businesss identity. While it may seem productive to entirely submerge ones self into your business, it is also very easy to get lost when this happens. This means that entrepreneurs end up ignoring their personal selves. This also extends to personal relationships, worries, and goals. This can potentially lead to an identity crisis that can transform into serious mental health issues.

4. ImpressionManagement Pressure

Entrepreneurs operate on the belief that success is not just about building the impression of a brand but of a person. This is why successful entrepreneurs are often also motivational speakers and become coaches later in their careers. With this comes impression management, which can lead to a lot of stress that comes from having to be perfect in the public eye at all times. Research also suggests that this hampers the development of a true sense of self since one is always engaged in developing a public self eventually leading to insecurity and identity confusion.

5. Lack of Resourcesfor Mental Health

Many entrepreneurs dont realize how much their mentalhealth factors into their success. Additionally, since they dont have jobsthat provide benefits like insurance and mental health counseling, they oftenhave a lack of resources for mental health. When they do, they just dontfactor it into their budget. With mental health struggles going unnoticed andunattended, they tend to turn into serious disorders over a long period oftime.

What Is Needed to Help Entrepreneurs

The road to ideal mental health is always a long one thatneeds willingness and persistence. While the same is true for entrepreneurs, ontheir own, they can take a number of steps to improve their own mental health:

On a larger level, there are a few essential steps that mustbe taken to improve the situation as soon as possible:

About Nathan Bradshaw:

Nathan Bradshaw is a health enthusiast, talented author, celebrated podcaster and with a background in collaborative care networks and artificial intelligence. Nathan is currently working with an ehr software company which helps physicians to improve their working efficiency.

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Why Entrepreneurs Are Vulnerable to Mental Health Challenges And How to Overcome Them - Thrive Global